MOBILE, Ala. — A federal grand jury here has charged nine people with obtaining unemployment benefits even though they had jobs.

The indictment charges the nine with wire fraud. The U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General investigated the case along with the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations.

“It is our hope that prosecutions of this sort will deter others from double-dipping,” U.S. Attorney Kenyen Brown said in a prepared statement. “If you’re gainfully employed, collecting unemployment insurance is illegal.”

Brown said the nine defendants combined cost taxpayers $101,574. He suggested that is the tip of the iceberg.

“But in fact, there are thousands of open investigations with millions in fraud losses for the state and federal government,” he stated. “We will continue to work aggressively with the Department of Labor and the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations to combat this sort of crime.”

Tara Hutchison, a spokeswoman with the state Department of Industrial Relations, estimated that investigators have uncovered about 3,000 cases that are “prosecutable.” She said the department eventually catches between 85 percent and 90 percent of fraudulent unemployment claims.

Every three months, businesses must submit wages reports containing the names and Social Security numbers of their employees. She said the department cross-references those names against the list of people collecting unemployment.

“If we get a match, there you go,” she said.

Those charged, with the amounts they are accused of illegally collecting, were:

Steven Todd Abrams, of Moss Point, Mississippi — $9,272.

Jessie Ray Burrell, of Mobile — $8,349.

George F. Cade III, of Linden — $8,606.

James W. Estes Jr., of Foley — $14,180.

Deborah Haywood, of Mobile — $11,516.

Steven Kilpatrick, of Thomasville — $11,107.

Earless Overstreet, of Perdido, — 15,595.

Paige Pearson, of Mobile — $11,941.

Alex S. Smith, of Mobile — $11,008.

The fraud comes at a time when funds to pay unemployment benefits have run low amid an extended period of severe job losses.

Last year, unemployment taxes tripled for some Alabama businesses as state officials tried to keep up with rising numbers of unemployed and make up a debt to the federal government that stood at $140 million in December 2009.

Hutchison said the state borrowed $283 million from the federal government last year and expects to pay it back this fall.

She said the state has seen a spike in fraud since the recession, but she said that likely is due to the fact that there simply are more people collecting unemployment and for a longer time since Congress extended the eligibility period from 26 to 99 weeks.

Each state sets its own level of benefits. In Alabama, the maximum payment is $265 week, with an average payment of $204.

(Updated at 5:18 p.m. to include comments from an official at the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations.)